Members of the Irish Postmaster's Union held a protest outside the Department of Communications earlier today after pulling out of talks with An Post about the future of the network earlier this week.
There have been suggestions that as many as 400 post offices could close to keep the overall network alive.
Speaking at that protest earlier, Waterford Postmaster, and Treasurer of the IPU, Sean Martin says that branches are essential to life in small towns and villages.
"What's happening is is that a lot of Postmasters are actually subsidising their communities," he said, "because the post office is hugely important to communities, both economically and socially."
He said that the closure of branches it can have a knock on effect for other business, and for that reason, "the government's strategy of moving people from cities into rural areas isn't going to happen."
